In recent years, considerable advancements have been made in reducing radiative energy loss through the expanding use of a variety of insulation materials. In many commercial and industrial applications, such insulation materials are applied to the exterior of heat carrying members such as piping or duct work. Further, this insulation may be applied in a variety of fashions depending on the insulating effect required in a given application. In contemporary applications, two common insulation techniques include spray-on insulation and preformed insulation specially adapted to be fitted and secured around a particular sized thermal member.
Several disadvantages are associated with both of these insulation techniques. Once hardened on the pipe or duct work, spray-on insulation material generally does not allow for ready access to the heat carrying member, thus hindering its inspection and/or repair. Further, spray-on insulation often does not evenly adhere or bond to the heat bearing member, thus creating "hot" or "cold" spots. Spray-on type insulation can also trap salt bearing or corrosive fluids which result in eventual deterioration of the thermal member. Spray-on type insulation is also very sensitive to local environmental conditions, and is therefore successfully applied only within rigid wind, temperature and humidity parameters. Finally, spray-on insulation is messy in application and often aesthetically unappealing.
Disadvantages associated with preformed insulation techniques include the overall cost to individually form or mold a given insulation section to its intended application around the thermal member. For a given length and diameter pipe or duct, a specific dimension insulating section must be formed, this process is often time and energy intensive. Preformed insulation sections are also expensive from the standpoint of both storage and shipment. Further, preformed sections are not easily adapted to other applications and often poorly fit their original, intended application due to manufacturing tolerances.
As a result of these and other disadvantages, other contemporary insulation systems have evolved which utilize a flat section of insulation which has been notched or grooved to accommodate a given diameter circular pipe or duct. In utilizing such a grooved insulation system, a flat section of insulation may be wrapped around a pipe or circular duct such as to maintain an insulation coating of uniform thickness. The insulation is held in place by an appropriately sized band or jacket. When repair or inspection of the thermal member is required, the band or jacket is released and the insulation section may be readily removed.
The notched or grooved systems, however, while less expensive than the molded systems and more manageable than the spray-on systems, have still not been readily and inexpensively adaptable to the variety of pipe diameters and lengths found in actual commercial application. This deficiency has arisen as a result of the failure of the art to develop a high speed precision system capable of consistently forming a series of clean, V-grooves or notches in the insulation material while the material moves in an assembly-line like fashion. This failure has resulted in uneven notch or groove dimensions and, consequentially, uneven and often unacceptable performance in wrapped applications. Further, such systems have been unable to accurately and uniformly establish a desired thickness in the insulation sheet, thus further hindering its application around tubular piping and the like. Thus, while V-groove insulation has been less expensive to fabricate than preformed insulation, its performance and flexibility in actual application has been often less than satisfactory.
Prior art notching or grooving systems have also been hindered by the undesired and physically harmful formation of insulation dust caused by the notching or grooving process. In such processes, therefore, elaborate dust removal systems have been employed, thus increasing the overall size and cost of these systems.
Finally, most prior art systems have been unable to economically produce small scale custom or tailored applications due to the cost of modifying a given tool or mold. Thus, economical insulation sections or products were often limited to relatively large projects.